British Columbia Travel Guide

British Columbia is the western most province in Canada. It is where the mountains meet the ocean. British Columbia is a magical place with unreal scenery and wildlife. With such diversity, a trip to British Columbia does not disappoint. Quick Facts Population: 5.6 million+ Official Languages: English, French Currency: Canadian Dollar Transportation: Rent a car …

Canada Travel Guide

About Canada Canada is a country in North America (and my home country–woo!). It is the second largest country in the world and touches three oceans: Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic. Canada is broken into ten provinces and three territories spanning over 9,000 KMs. It is home to a wide diversity of scenery, wildlife, and even …

North America Travel Guide

North America is a continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres.  There are 23 official countries: Canada, United States of America (USA), Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and St. …

What to Watch, Listen, and Read Before a Trip to Canada

Evolving Pop Culture Guide to Canada Evolving pop culture guide on what to consume before or during your trip to Canada 🇨🇦. These are podcasts, books, and documentaries I have consumed and would recommend. You can learn more about each by clicking the links in the title. Learn about Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Listen to Podcasts …

The Troubles of Calatheas

I was gifted the beautiful Calathea Marion. I have had good times with her and sad times with her. I love her, but she sometimes doesn’t love me back. This is my plant log with my Calathea Marion. Lighting Calatheas like bright, indirect light. I originally put her about 15ft from a massive south-west facing …

Arrow Lakes Provincial Park to Kootenay National Park Road Trip

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 9 It was time to hit the road again, but this time from Arrow Lakes Provincial Park to Kootenay National Park (where we actually had a campsite booked). Even though it was another longish driving day (3.5 hrs vs. the 6.5 hr drive the day before), the scenery …

Where to Stop From Cherryville to Arrow Lakes Provincial Park

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 8 A road trip isn’t complete without at least one long driving day, so we decided to make our driving day from Cherryville to Arrow Lakes Provincial Park even longer by taking the scenic route! This is a list with photos of every stop we made from Cherryville …

Exploring Okanagan Wineries & Picking Up Our Campervan

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 7 After our couple of days hiking the Sea to Sky Corridor (Chief & Garibaldi), we spent a few days in the Okanagan region with Callum’s brother’s girlfriend’s family, golfing and boating. Okanagan was the beginning of our campervan road trip. This ended up being a life changing …

A Beginner’s Experience Hiking Garibaldi (in the Rain)

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 6 I was originally apprehensive about hiking Garibaldi after hiking the Chief the day before, but I am very thankful I did it. Even though it was raining, the Garibaldi hike is one of my favourites I have ever done. The scenery is unreal. The wooded area is …

A Beginner’s Experience Doing The Chief Hike

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 5 The classic Stawamus Chief hike is probably the most challenging hike I have done in my life. I have hiked a lot of places in the world, but the descent of the Chief was a challenge. At 702 metres above the town of Squamish, the Chief cliff …

Vancouver Island to Vancouver by Ferry (I was not chill)

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 4 I was pumped to go to spend half of a day in Vancouver. I’ve never been and have always wanted to go. Unfortunately this did not happen, because we missed our planned ferry to Vancouver. Tofino to Nanaimo It was a nearly 3 hour drive to Nanaimo. …

What to Do with One Day in Tofino – Surf in Tofino

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 3 The goal of this day was to learn how to surf in Tofino. I tried surfing one other time, but I don’t really count it. I was 19, in Indonesia, and it was only for 20 mins and pretty informal. With a full day available, our perfect …

Orca in Vancouver British Columbia in the Pacific Ocean

1-Day in Victoria, BC – Whales & City Exploration

A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 1 Fear aside, we headed to Vancouver Island in British Columbia (BC) for the first part of our road trip (and for me to live out my dream of seeing Orcas). It’s been eight months since I last travelled. The thing that I loved so much, the thing …

Kyrgyzstan-Sheep-Car

Underestimating the Road to Tash Rabat

A theme was starting to form on our trip — maps were/are wrong, and the rough roads were causing significant delays. Knowing we had a seven-hour journey ahead, we woke up very early to hit the road to Tash Rabat. We wanted to drive the Pamir Highway, and decided we would do this from Bishkek …

Exploring Soviet Gulag KarLag in Kazakhstan

History has interested me for as long as I can remember. How the human race has committed atrocities, and how we learn from the mistakes of others. How people are able to rise up against the odds, and prevail. KarLag is an example of one of these atrocities. What was KarLag? KarLag (short for Karaganda …

Big-Almaty-Lake

Traffic Jam at Big Almaty Lake in Winter

If you are going to check out nature’s attractions, I recommend looking up what the sight will actually look like in that season. We learned out the hard way that Big Almaty Lake was in the middle of snowy mountains after we got stuck in the snow heading to view the lake. We also learned …

WWII-Panfilov-28-Monument

First Day in the Stans: Almaty, Kazakhstan

When most Westerners hear Kazakhstan, they think Borat (very nice, I like—hopefully you read that in a Borat voice). Borat was filmed in Romania rather than Kazakhstan and Sasha Baron Cohen’s character speaks Hebrew, not Kazakh. Safe to say the portrayal of Kazakhstan in the movie is very different than real life. All Borat aside, …

Buddha

6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Self-Driving Central Asia

Nothing says relaxing vacation like driving a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder across unknown territory, avoiding potholes, sheep, and a tumble over the side of a mountain. Before deciding to rent a car and drive the Pamir Highway, I heavily researched the options. We decided to rent a car and self-drive Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan because: The first …